Alright, this is different from my other stuff. It's a co-write with my very good friend, PictureMeBroken.

Description: Aya knows it's wrong. He's a teacher and at least six years her elder. But she's falling fast for Kakashi Hatake. With that mysterious air, love for literature, and amazing athletic skills, how could she not? Meanwhile, her best friend, Yukiko finds herself head over heels for the broody red-head known as Gaara. She knows she shouldn't love him, especially with the way he treats her, but how can she resist her soul mate?

"Ugh. What is Tsunade-Sama thinking? I specifically asked for regular classes this year." Yukiko sighed and shut her locker, cursing loudly as her tie got caught.

"Today is just not gonna be good for you, huh?" Aya asked, laughing as Yukiko undid her lock and pulled her tie free. Yukiko held her locker open, resting her forehead on the metal of the locker beside hers.

"Not at all. Who do you have first period?" Yukiko closed her eyes, dreading going to her AP Literature class.

"Kakashi Hatake for AP Lit. How 'bout you." Yukiko smiled.

"At least there's something good about my schedule. I have Lit with you." Yukiko jumped as someone tapped her shoulder. "Holy fu-" Yukiko stopped her string of curses when her light blue eyes locked on a pair of cold jade orbs surrounded by a messy flock of brick red hair and a plane of pale, ivory skin. Yukiko's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at him. Yukiko was always staring up to people because of her small stature, but in that moment when her eyes met his, Yukiko felt as if he were towering over here. "Er-Uh…Um. I-I'm erm…Yu-Yukiko…Uh, hi?" Yukiko had never had trouble talking to boys before, but this one was different. In the few seconds that he'd been standing there, her brain had turned to mush and taken her eloquent speech with it.

"Hehe. I'm Aya. This is my friend Yukiko. Did you need something?" Aya was smiling at Yukiko, a semi-triumphant gleam in her green eyes. The boy nodded, eyes never leaving Yukiko.

"I'm Gaara Sabaku. Where's Anko Mitarashi's room?"

"Oh! You must be the new kid. Nice to meet you. Anko-Sensei's not in her classroom today. They're actually in the lab which is right down the hall. You're going to take a left right there and the lab's the third door on your right." Aya said, motioning at the side hallway a bit down. Gaara just nodded and walked off in the direction Aya had pointed him. Yukiko let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and grabbed Aya's forearms.

"I think I just saw a god." Aya laughed at the dead serious tone in Yukiko's voice and hugged her friend.

"Aww. Somebody got a little case of puppy love? I thought you didn't date, Yuki-Chan?" Yukiko blushed and shrugged free of Aya's grasp, turning back to her locker to close it.

"I don't like him. He's just…ridiculously gorgeous…" Yukiko went to walk away and swore loudly: She'd gotten her tie stuck again.

"Our teacher's late." Yukiko said, tapping her pencil impatiently. Aya just rolled her eyes and got up to throw away her schedule since she already had all of her classes memorized. Aya managed to make it all the way to the trash can by the door before she tripped over her own feet, as usual. Aya clenched her eyes shut and waited to hit the floor.

"Whoa there," A deep voice rumbled in her ear. Aya blushed a deep scarlet as their teacher, Kakashi Hatake himself, righted her and sent her off to her seat. Aya had to steady herself on Yukiko's desk as she passed and almost tripped again. Kakashi seemed to pay her no mind as he wrote on the board.

After a few minutes, Yukiko smirked and flipped a folded up piece of paper onto Aya's desk. Aya opened it and saw a doodle of her tripping and Kakashi opening the classroom door, with Yukiko's signature scrawled on the bottom and a smiley face.

"Bitch," Aya whispered, not able to stop the smile from touching her lips.

"Alright, class." Kakashi said, standing up straight and facing them for once. "I am Kakashi Hatake and welcome to AP Literature. Now then, before any of you ask, I will not be removing the mask or the bandana. Tsunade-Sama has given me permission to wear them, and I will not tell you why I wear them, so don't ask." Kakashi leaned against the corner of his desk, silver-gray hair hanging loosely over a white and black bandana tied haphazardly across his eye. There was a black mask covering the bottom of his face from view, most likely just to make himself more mysterious, Yukiko thought. Aya just thought it was sexy as hell.

"Alright," Kakashi started, picking up a piece of chalk from beneath the board. "Before we begin, I'd like to go over some basic grammar review. Copy the sentences on the board, then go back and correct them. You have ten minutes."

For the allotted time, all that was heard was the scratching of pens and pencils against paper, creating a monotonous rhythm. When Kakashi called time, every sighed, slightly alarmed at how rusty their skills had gotten over the summer.

"Now," their teacher cast his gaze over the class, his visible eye glinting mischievously. "Pass all of your papers forward." Once he had all of the papers, he pulled one randomly out of the middle, glancing at the name. "Aya Kazuki, please come up to the board." As she stood, Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "Please try not to trip this time."

Aya flushed pink, biting her lower lip, trying not to smile. "Yes, sensei," she answered, ignoring the snickers of her classmates. As she made her way up to the front, a hand shot out, slapping her ass. Aya whirled around, turning red with anger. "Sasuke!"

The raven haired teen smirked from his seat. "Don't act like you didn't like it." Yukiko stood up, slapping her hands down on the desk and glaring at the back of Sasuke's head.

"Hey, Uchiha, touch her again and I'll castrate you with a rusty metal spoon. Got it?" Sasuke looked as if he were about to make a snide reply but thought better of it, just returning her glare and settling back into his seat. Yukiko smiled at Aya before sitting down again and apologizing to Kakashi for the interruption.

Kakashi nodded in her direction before asking Aya to correct the sentences for the class. Aya's hand rushed across the board, easily perfecting all errors and letting the chalk fall into the holder under the board. Kakashi seemed to smile behind his mask as he patted Aya's head appreciatively.

"Thank you, Aya. Perfect. You may return to your seat now." Aya nodded, a heavy blush on the apples of her cheeks. She squeaked as she reached her desk and caught her foot in the strap of Yukiko's messenger bag, catching herself on her seat just before falling to the floor. Yukiko couldn't help but chuckle as her best friend took her seat.

Aya sat forward in her desk as Kakashi started writing on the board once more to whisper to Yukiko, a smirk on her face.

"You know, Yuki-Chan, for someone who's four-foot-eleven, you can be extremely intimidating when the need arises." Yukiko had to stop herself from laughing as Kakashi asked them to quiet down.

"So I'll see you at lunch then, Aya-Chi?" Aya nodded before hugging her friend and running off towards the track field, curly locks flying around her shoulders. Yukiko opened the door to the art room, the smell of paint and clay bringing a smile to her face. If there was one thing she'd missed over the summer it had been the art room. Old paintings and sketches clung to the walls and easels were scattered about the room along with table and drying racks by the windows. Yukiko took her seat and began to set up her easel, stopping as she noticed a mop of red hair to her right. No, it can't be… She thought, turning to meet Gaara's light green eyes. A flush climbed to her cheeks as she hastily returned her gaze to the easel in front of her. Pushing back a few of her dark locks, Yukiko quickly scanned the front board and picked up her paintbrush, imagining the hot spring resort where she and Aya had spent most of their summer break.

"Alright class. I am Kurenai Yuhi. Some of you know me from last year, some of you are just meeting me for the first time." Kurenai tossed a welcoming smile to Gaara and continued on to the rest of the class. "For those of you who have been in my class before, you already know the assignment and you may begin. For everyone else, let me say welcome to art! I like to start the year off with a simple assignment that will also let me get a feel for your individual art style. I would like you to take something from your summer, whether it be a place, person, or otherwise, and draw it on the canvas in front of you. You may paint if you would rather; all the materials are in the closet at the back of the room. Please be careful not to paint your uniform." Kurenai chuckled before telling the students to begin. She moseyed around the room, helping people here and there, giving tips, and saying how lovely everyone's summer must have been.

Yukiko had already finished her basic scene and was ready for the challenge of painting herself and Aya into the picture, by the time Kurenai got to her easel.

"Very nice, Yukiko. I see you've been practicing over the summer. Your textures are much smoother, more realistic." Kurenai grinned down at her protégée before moving on to Gaara's easel. Yukiko tried not to pay attention to them as Kurenai commented on his shading skills and instead tried to capture the light hitting Aya's green eyes. She sighed as she examined her work. Even in paint they looked odd standing next to each other. Aya was tall, tanned, and curvy with the toned muscles of a dedicated athlete and strawberry blonde curls while Yukiko was of less than average height with a petite frame and almost sickly pale skin that made her wavy red tresses look black.

Yukiko shivered as she saw the intense stare Gaara had trained on her painting. A flush climbed to her cheeks as he crossed his arms, obviously criticizing her work in his mind. After chewing the inside of her cheek for a few minutes Yukiko couldn't stand it anymore. "What do you think of it?"

Gaara looked away from the painting and up at her, then returned to his own drawing, ignoring her question entirely.

Yukiko sighed, trying in vain to fix her uniform. No matter what she did, her uniform was always slightly askew. One of her socks slid down to her ankle while the other stayed firmly at her knee; her vest already missing a button though she'd only worn it once; and her tie always too loose and getting caught in everything. She pushed her glasses up as she made her way to the cafeteria, smiling as her best friend caught sight of her and yelled.

"Come on, Yuki-Chan! Hurry up!" Yukiko smiled and jogged up to meet Aya in the line.

"Hey. Does Kakashi-Sensei still want us to have lunch with him in the courtyard?" Aya nodded.

"Yeah, he reminded me as I was leaving gym." At Yukiko's raised brow Aya simply added, "He's one of the coaches too."

"Seriously? The Lit teacher is a coach? Huh. I wouldn't have guessed it myself." Yukiko grabbed a bottle of water before scanning her ID and handing the lunch lady a check.

"Sorta. He coaches track in the afternoons, but that's it." Aya righted the bag on her shoulder before starting off towards the courtyard, Yukiko following behind and waving at old friends.

"Ne, Yuki-Chan!" Yukiko stopped and smiled at the familiar voice.

"Yes, Deidara?" The blonde boy stood up to hug her, ruffling her hair affectionately and looking down at her with sparkling blue eyes.

"You still comin' over tomorrow for a bit of late night raiding?" Yukiko rolled her eyes.

"Like I would miss it? I'm the main healer, of course I'm gonna be there." Sasori smirked and ran a hand through his light red hair.

"I told you she'd still be up for it, Deidara." Deidara glared at Sasori before taking a seat next to him and stealing his apple.

"Well, in that case, we'll all be over at my house. See you there, Yuki-Chan." Deidara gave a small wave before turning his attention back to the others sitting at the table with him. Yukiko shook her head and continued on after Aya, a small smile still affixed to her lips.

"Aya-Chi! Wait up." Yukiko pouted as she sprinted the last few feet between Aya and herself. The sun was scorching as they stepped outside. The courtyard offered very little shade, save for the few trees dotting the perimeter. Kakashi was sitting beneath one of these trees, bottle of water in one hand and a novel in the other. The girls had seen this book several times in first period when Kakashi hadn't been speaking. He closed the book and stood as the two approached.

"Hey sensei. What'd you need us for?" Yukiko said sweetly, smiling despite the fact that she hated being outdoors. Kakashi seemed to return her smile as he asked them both to sit with him.

"Alright girls, I've asked you two to join me because I'd like to talk with you about your test scores. You both have the highest scores of any of my students." Aya looked down modestly as Yukiko blushed and muttered, 'I test well.' "Because of this, you two have been chosen to receive a literary reward at the next assembly. As your teacher, I thought it right to tell you girls in advance and be the first to congratulate you two. So, good job!" Kakashi smiled again, and ruffled both girls' hair before saying they could go back to the cafeteria now if they'd like and picking up his novel.

The bell rang as they walked back in, making both of them sigh and start off towards their lockers. Yukiko quickly tucked her tie into her vest as Aya opened her lock for her. Yukiko opened her bag as the door swung open, trading out things from her first two classes. After both girls had gotten their things together they started off towards the computer lab where their science class would be for the next few days.

Aya and Yukiko took their seats in the back of the lab near the main AC vent. The two talked quietly as their computers booted up and they waited for Anko-Sensei. She appeared several minutes after the last bell, a grin on her lips, and short black hair up in its usual spiky ponytail.

"Hey there. I'm your chemistry teacher, Anko Mitarashi. I'm just gonna tell you guys now, in my class, there are a lot of explosions. That silly text-book is nothing but a bunch of boring experiments that have no place in my classroom. However, because my experiments can sometimes be dangerous, you guys'll have to be extremely careful and do exactly as I say. If you don't listen to me during an experiment, it's an automatic referral and suspension." Anko took a long look at her students before sitting back in her desk. "Alrighty then. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to call roll, and you guys can start your assignment."

The assignment was simple enough, a short essay about yourself and what you want to do with your life. And once you finished, you were allowed to play games on the computer, listen to music, etc. Yukiko and Aya had already finished their essays and were listening to music as Yukiko doodled and Aya read fan fiction online.

"Ooooh. What's this, Yuki-Chan?" Aya said, holding up Yukiko's drawing with an evil glint in her eyes. Yukiko's face flushed scarlet as she tried to snatch the drawing away from her best friend.

"Aya-Chi! Give it back! Come on, give it!" Aya danced into the hall with the picture, laughing as Yukiko rushed to get her things and follow Aya. Aya started running down the hall and Yukiko grabbed her books and sprinted after her. "Aya!" Yukiko managed to catch her in front of their next class. She grabbed the picture and went to go into the classroom, just as Gaara was coming out. Yukiko collided with him and fell back, dropping all of her things.

"Yuki-Chan, are you alright?" Aya said, kneeling down to help Yukiko up. Gaara bent down, picking up a piece of paper and looking at Yukiko. Yukiko met his eyes, mortification and dread bubbling up inside her. Please tell me it was a different piece of paper. Please, please, please don't let it be…

"You dropped this." Gaara said coldly, handing her the drawing of him before turning around and walking back into the classroom. Yukiko felt like crying as she picked up her books and followed Aya inside. Taking extra care to place herself as far away from Gaara as possible, Yukiko and Aya ended up near the front of the classroom, two seats over from Sasuke Uchiha. Yukiko wrote a quick note to Aya as they waited for their teacher.

Omg! You're so dead, Aya! This is all your fault! Dammit, why'd he have to pick up THAT piece of paper? T.T

Aya laughed and scrawled a quick reply before passing the note back to her.

Your fault for drawing him.;)

Yukiko sighed as if from defeat.

I hate you so much, Aya. T.T

"Why don't you just take a picture buddy? It'll last longer." Aya growled at the sound of Sasuke's voice. Yukiko stood up turned to face him.

"Sas-" Yukiko was beyond shocked when Gaara's cold voice came from right behind her.

"I left my camera at home." Gaara had moved at some point and was now sitting in the desk directly behind Yukiko's. Sasuke glared at him.

"Smart-ass. I hate smart-asses." Sasuke stood up.

"That's your own problem. It's not my fault you're self-loathing." Yukiko and Aya laughed with the rest of the class as Sasuke seemed to boil with rage. Sasuke was normally the center of attention and no one ever said things like that to him, except for Aya and Yukiko. Of course, they were best friends with his older brother.

"Wanna settle this outside, new kid?" Gaara smirked, standing and giving Aya and Yukiko a final glance before walking over to the door.

"You're not worth my time, Uchiha." Gaara was already out the door by the time Sasuke unleashed a steady stream of curses at him. His two lap dogs, Sakura and Ino, were busy arguing over who got to chase Gaara down and tear him limb from limb when their teacher walked in. Shizune raked a very confused gaze over the classroom, which had erupted into a slight pandemonium after Gaara left. Aya and Yukiko covered their ears as Shizune's eyes narrowed. Having been office-aids last year, they knew about Shizune's temper and outbursts.

"Everyone shut up!" Shizune slammed her fists down onto her desk, glaring at Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino in particular. "You three: You seem to always start trouble whenever you're together. Sakura, I expect better from you." The pinkette looked ashamed as Shizune berated her and her friends. Ino and Sasuke just looked pissed.

The rest of the period was very quiet as the students did their assignment. Aya and Yukiko smiled at Shizune as they laid their papers down on her desk and continued on to their lockers.

"Who the hell does Sas-gay think he is anyway? I mean really, it's Gaara's first day and already Uchiha's made an ass of himself. I'm almost ashamed to say we used to be friends." Yukiko said as Aya opened their lockers. Yukiko could never remember the combination so Aya ended up having to open it for her a lot.

"Ditto. At least you didn't date him." Aya sighed as she put all of her books inside the metal cubby-hole. Yukiko cringed.

"Oh god. I still can't believe that you did. I mean really, Aya-Chi, what'd you see in him? Well, at least you got him before he became a total slut and had Ino and Sakura all over him." Yukiko emptied the contents of her messenger bag into her locker as well, leaving nothing but her sketch-pad and a few pencils.

"True." Once they'd both put away their things, and freed Yukiko's tie for the umpteenth time that day, the two made their way to the gym so Aya could change into her running gear for track.